Mauricio Pochettino says fatigue is no excuse for Tottenham
Thursday 5 November 2015 09:01, UK
Mauricio Pochettino has warned his Tottenham players fatigue will be no excuse if they flop against Anderlecht in the Europa League on Thursday night.
The tie is Spurs' second of three matches during a demanding six days, which began with a win over Aston Villa on Monday and ends with a visit to rivals Arsenal as part of Super Sunday.
Pochettino may have hoped to rest players against Anderlecht with one eye on the north London derby but his side need a win as they sit level on points with the Belgians in Group J and one behind Monaco.
"We need to take the schedule and not complain about that," Pochettino said. "We need to accept the rules, the schedule, we knew the situation before. We're ready to compete.
"It's true this is not the best condition but we need to be ready and we need to take the excuse away from the players - 'Maybe they are tired because they played on Monday?' - no.
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"We need to put this idea out of our mind. We're in a very good condition and we are fit and we need to be ready.
"It's more mental than physical, playing every two days, and we're in a very good run - we need to keep focused because we have a very important game."
Tottenham are boosted by the return of forward Son Heung-min, who has been sidelined for almost six weeks with a foot problem.
Pochettino is keen for his £22m summer signing to remain with the club over the upcoming international break, but South Korea want their star player to play for them in World Cup qualifiers against Burma/Myanmar and Laos.
"He wants to go, which is normal," Pochettino said. "You want to play for your country but we need to speak a little bit to arrive at the best deal for him, his country and for us."
